New developments in In Iran's reformist and conservative camps are indicative of a new momentum in the country's political dynamics ahead of March 2024 elections.

Ultraconservatives, who dominate the current parliament and the government, are ready to go out of their way to ensure their continued supremacy in the political landscape.

The Reformist Front, an umbrella organization of several parties and groups elected Azar Mansouri as the Front's leader last week to replace aging political heavyweight Behzad Nabavi who led the front during the past two years. Mansouri was the front's spokesperson during this period.

However, based on the experience of the last two elections in 2020 and 2021, an electoral watchdog controlled by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will determine who can become a candidate. In the 2020 parliamentary vote hundreds of reformist candidates were disqualified, allowing hardliners to dominate the parliament.

Ms. Mansouri took part in a meeting with former President Mohammad Khatami, who is considered the undeclared leader of Iran's reform movement although his recent stances indicate that he is not too eager to risk big changes in the current governing system.

According to Etemad Online, at the meeting Khatami endorsed Mansouri's qualifications as the leader of Iran's Reform Front and insisted on its independence. He said the power and capabilities of the Reform Front depends on its members' strengths and capabilities.

Khatami called on the front's leaders to do their best to ensure its cohesion, while also benefitting from the views of experts outside the front. He added that the front's views should reflect the collective opinion of its members.

At the meeting, Mansouri said that Khatami is the Reform Front's focal point and that all of the reformists agree on his key role.

Meanwhile, according to conservative website Nameh News, Mohammad Ali Namazi, a member of the Centrist Executives of Construction Party (EoC), which is a part of the Reform Front, has said that the Reform Front would have been more successful if its members elected EoC leader Hossein Marashi as its chairman.

However, he added that Mansouri's election as the Reform Front's leader does not mean that the views of her party, the Unity of Nation Party will determine the underlying policies of the front. Ms. Mansouri will have only one vote in determining those policies.

He said a majority of the front's member wanted Nabavi to be elected as the leader, but the aging politician was not interested in the position.

Meanwhile, Namazi made it clear that he is aware that the conservative-led Guardian Council that vets election candidates has already made its decisions about who are those who are allowed to run for the upcoming election.

At the same time changes in the leadership of the conservative camp indicated their strong interest in the upcoming election. In one of the latest developments, political heavyweight Mohammad Reza Bahonar joined SHANA [Persian acronym for the conservative alliance council of revolutionary forces]. Despite what the word "revolutionary" might indicate, the alliance consists of elderly politicians such as Bahonar and former Majles Speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel who have been active in Iran's domestic politics for more than four decades.

However, Expediency Council member Bahonar's move to the forefront of electioneering could mean that traditional conservatives are serious in trying to keep their position in the Iranian political landscape despite the power of ultraconservatives, most notably the Paydari Party, to win the lion's share of the seats in the next parliament.

Nonetheless, as Namazi noted, getting through the Guardian Council's net is not guaranteed for anyone unless Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pulls the right strings for them.